Film review
Directed by James Cameron
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi
Release date 17 December 2009 (UK & US)

In 2154, humans arrive on the lush planet of Pandora to undertake research and exploit its resources. To enable them to breathe on the planet, humans can operate genetically engineered avatar bodies that look just like the blue-skinned natives, the Na’vi…

It’s worth heeding the words “From the director of Titanic” on the posters for Avatar. For despite marking James Cameron’s return to science fiction and featuring nods to his previous works, this is as much informed by his soppy romantic epic as it is by Aliens or The Abyss. On the plus side it doesn’t end on a treacly Celine Dion ballad this time. On the negative side it ends on a treacly Leona Lewis ballad instead.

Avatar isn’t entirely soft, featuring, as it does, hard-as-nails marines, spaceships that pack awesome firepower, and a few thunderous battle sequences. But this is science fiction at its most socially aware, and at times it almost plays out like a mega-budget live-action version or Ferngully: The Last Rainforest of Once Upon A Forest. As the verdant land of Pandora and its people are threatened with annihilation through man’s greed (and desperation: humans want to mine the mineral Unobtanium to solve Earth’s energy crisis), the parallels with what we’re doing to our own environment aren’t exactly subtle.

The allusions to the so-called War on Terror aren’t subtle either – the Blackwater-style security contractors talk of “fighting terror with terror” after the Na’vi attempt to stop the destruction of their homeland through force, while the destruction of the Na’vi’s tree of life has clear echoes of the crumbling twin towers.

Around this is fashioned a fairly predictable narrative that sees the nefarious head of security, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Lang) offer crippled ex-marine Jake Sulley (Worthington) new legs in exchange for infiltrating the Na’vi persuading them to give up their home so humans can mine the land below for its rich resources.

As Sulley spends time amongst the Na’vi, falling for cute local Neytiri (Saldana) along the way, he gradually learns to love and respect their culture, and joins scientist Grace Augustine (Weaver) and nervy fellow recruit Norm (Moore) in trying to save them. It’s a plot that has echoes of everything from Pocahontas to Local Hero, and compared to the twist-packed narratives of Aliens or The Abyss, there are disappointingly few surprises here.

But the real joy of Avatar lies in its detail. The tropical world of Pandora is simply astonishing to behold, a kind of wigged-out version of the Amazon jungle in which tree branches glow, giant flowers collapse upon themselves, and crazed bastardisations of dogs, rhinos and other beasts stalk the undergrowth.

As well as its ‘natural’ wonders, Avatar’s man-made creations are just as impressive. The security contractors operate a vast array of attack ships, rotorcraft and armoured trucks that are awe-inspiring, yet (like the hardware in Aliens) close enough to genuine military designs to be entirely believable. Best of all is the AMP suit – a clunking metal suit that amplifies the movements of its operator, sort of like a new-and-improved version of the exosuit cargo-loader from Aliens.

WETA have also done a fantastic job with the blue-skinned Na’vi themselves. Some viewers were rather sceptical on viewing the Avatar trailer, mocking the blue-skinned aliens as being everything from hopelessly unrealistic to very, very silly. But they actually fit seamlessly alongside the human characters, and the motion capture does a great job in maintaining the expressions and emotions of actors – the device has come along way from the dead-eye days of The Polar Express.

In fact, Avatar is saved from turgidity by its likeable and hissable characters, human and Na’vi alike. Worthington’s Sulley is perhaps a little humourless, but his journey from brooding ex-soldier to eco-warrior is involving, and the character actually becomes more appealing in his avatar form. There’s solid support from Sigourney Weaver as the personable scientist battling against Giovanni Ribisi’s cold-hearted company man (who resembles a slightly less oleaginous version of Burke from Aliens).

The most memorable character is undoubtedly Lang’s Colonel Quaritch, an old-school soldier who favours force over diplomacy and destruction to preservation. Quaritch is the kind of man who barely flinches when he’s set on fire, and he posses an unwavering loyalty to his men and the mission. Sure, it’s a classic war movie archetype, but Quaritch is exactly the kind of larger-than-life character the film needs, and Lang makes him compelling rather than simply a pantomime villain.

We haven’t even mentioned Cameron’s much-hyped RealD 3D technology – which is, incidentally, terrific – and that’s a good indication that there’s much more to Avatar than just technical wizardry. It may not be in the league of Cameron’s best work (and, with its 12A certificate, it’s a good deal less violent), but for anyone who fell in love with SF cinema for its ability to show us strange new sights and sounds, it’s massive, awesome entertainment. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 7/10
Forget about the simplistic narrative: Avatar is must-see viewing for its dazzling ideas and effects and concepts. Just make sure you watch it on the biggest screen possible.